Hemingway Residence

Brian Hemingway's own 1977 residence is on the market. 

Located on a steep hillside in West Vancouver, the house is a virtual treehouse and shares many qualities with the contemporaneous and nearby Merrick house.

Copious use of timbers and glass, an intimate relationship to a precipitous site and and the tangible influence of Ron Thom are all part of this wonderful late-modern West Coast work.

Photos: Pixilink

Heritage Vancouver's Top Ten

Heritage Vancouver has released its annual Top Ten Endangered list. 

At the top is Paul Merrick's wonderful Forest Education Centre (pictured above) at VanDusen Botanical Garden. Other endangered buildings include the Vancouver Post Office and the Waldorf Hotel.

If you feel strongly about the preservation of these sites, let the City of Vancouver know.

Image: Heritage Vancouver Society

Thom's Boyd/McPhedran

 

Add one more to the list of Ron Thom-designed houses currently for sale: the Boyd/McPhedran house in West Vancouver has just been listed.  

It's an earlier design (from 1954) that shows his evolving approach and increasing mastery of the rocky terrain of the North Shore: hipped roof, deep overhangs, limited palette of natural materials and integration to site. 

It was originally built for art school friends of Thom who only lived there for a short time. The house has been sensitively maintained and expanded over the years and retains a graceful sense of proportion and scale.

See Kerry McPhedran's Western Living article that explores Thom's Vancouver work and her relationship with the house.

It's a notable piece in Thom's oeuvre, mostly for it's muted architectural beauty but also because of its influence: it had a profound impression on a young Paul Merrick as well as the numerous clients Thom showed the house to as an example of his work.

It joins the Forrest (for sale, again), the Work/Baker and the Norman houses on the market– a group that spans not only the geography of Vancouver but also Thom's architectural output in the city.

CBC

Two opposing views of the new HBBH-designed CBC addition: Alex Waterhouse-Hayward's blog piece from last year and Adele Weder's recent profile in Canadian Architect.

I can sympathize with Waterhouse-Hayward's view- like him I had a fondness for the CBC building as it was originally designed, by Paul Merrick of Thompson, Berwick + Pratt. It was of its era, its Brutalist style reflecting both architectural and broadcasting currents at the time.

I also agree that we can be too quick to alter buildings merely because their style has fallen out of favour. Every building has a story to tell, yet additions to existing structures are a reality and an artform in themselves. Sympathetically designed they can lead to an enriched dialogue, like this or the VAG's current Erickson/Rattenbury home.

I think Weder nails it when she defends HBBH's addition as flowing from a new directive for broadcasting and media in general, one that started with the client: it is becoming more democratic and transparent in a way that was difficult to anticipate even a few years ago.

Merrick's concrete edifice and HBBH's glass-faced newsroom contrast two distinct solutions that speak to the CBC's evolving mandate.

Image: Hotson Bakker Boniface Haden

Thom's Fraser Residence

A few shots of Ron Thom's and Paul Merrick's 1968 Fraser Residence in Toronto which was refurbished in 2003.

VanDusen's Green Plan

One project on the slate for Vancouver's recently approved Capital Plan is a new $20 million facility at VanDusen Botanical Garden.

Designed by Busby Perkins + Will, the Planting the Seed Capital Project will completely revamp the visitor area with two new buildings (a Visitor Centre and Garden Pavilion) and a landscaping plan by Cornelia Hahn Oberlander. As befits Busby's dedication to 'green' architecture, the design is highly sustainable and takes cues from the extensive surrounding garden.

Under the banner of a 'Living Building Philosophy' some of the organizing principles noted on VanDusen's website are standard eco-fare such as safe, healthy building materials and indoor quality. However with plans for a zero ecological footprint, there are some noteworthy ideas: energy needs will come from an on-site renewable source, as will the water supply which will be purified naturally.

Also significant is the roof structure. Inspired by a native orchid, the roof line as shown in concept sketches is suitably organic, featuring undulating curves above large glass walls. The buildings are topped off with green roofs that will offset their physical footprints, further reducing any negative impact on the site.

Aside from a focus on 'green' construction, the new facility will expand VanDusen's capabilities. Educational and interpretive spaces will be larger and all administrative offices will be brought together in one building. There will also be two new dining areas and more rental facilities available for performances, botanical shows and exhibitions.

The Underwood, McKinley, Smith & Wilson-designed buildings currently on the site will be demolished, though it seems not until new construction is finished. I have mixed feelings about these coming down. While not the most architecturally significant buildings in the city, they are lovely post and beam structures that are evocative of their era, built with ample timbres that play deferentially off the landscape, almost dissolving into it.

The VanDusen buildings are part of a body of work designed by Underwood + Co. from the 1960's to the early 1970's that share a common architectural language - described by Harold Kalman in his book Exploring Vancouver as "Park Board post-and-beam". The Vancouver Parks Board office (seen in this fascinating 1961 archival film) which still stands in fine condition near Stanley Park, and the Bloedel Conservatory at Queen Elizabeth Park are among this group.

This disappointment is tempered by the proposed design of the Busby buildings. Their forms are undeniably seductive and reflect their context satisfyingly. And with the hiring of Busby, the implementation of a green plan is laudable and appropriate, especially for a botanical garden. It is also clear that VanDusen could benefit from a revitalization and an increase in facility space.

However it's worth asking whether the existing Visitor Centre and Pavilion can be saved and function in some sort of secondary role. The retention of part of the original design would be an opportunity to create a compelling dialogue between old and new; one that would modestly illustrate the history of architecture in the city.

Part of that narrative is another building at VanDusen: the Forest Centre, designed by Paul Merrick/Thompson, Berwick & Pratt, falls outside of the Capital Plan and will continue to be used for educational, volunteer and office purposes.

Construction is slated to start early in 2010 and last until mid-2011. Plans are posted at the VanDusen Visitor Centre and on their website.